


The Song of The Bay

by LC_Rodriguez, StarSketch



Category: Trolls (2016)
Genre: Classical References, Little Mermaid Elements, Major Original Character(s), Multi, Pirates, Sailing, Song Lyrics, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-10
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2019-02-12 19:41:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12966951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LC_Rodriguez/pseuds/LC_Rodriguez, https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarSketch/pseuds/StarSketch
Summary: After decades of feeling left in the dark about her family's origins, a troll named Muse makes a startling discovery; an isolated bay that connects the Troll/Bergen continent straight to the ocean. And what's more, there are strange trolls sailing close by... What happens when Troll Village makes contact with these new enigmatic "aquatic trolls"?





	1. Midnight of the Aquatic Trolls

Once upon a night, in the vast, watery darkness of the ocean, a quiet song could be heard. Shadowy sailing ships loomed in the water, under the moon and all the stars. In the ships, sailed the sneakiest creatures that the world has ever known. The Trolls.

“ _In the darkness… before the dawn…_ ” one called out from the crow’s nest of a ship’s mast.

“ _In the swirling… of the storm…_ ” another replied in a different ship, soon joined by a third.

“ _When I’m rolling with the punches, and hope is gone,_ ”

“ _Leave a light… a light on,_ ” they said in unison, and their bodies promptly brightened up in patterns and bright colors of the rainbow. Luminous trolls perched atop the ships’ masts illuminated the ocean like beacons, signaling the presence of each other in song and view. Some trolls, quickly getting into the song, balanced skillfully across the rigging on the sails and perched themselves across the poles, lighting up their ships like holiday trees.

“ _Millions of…_ ”

“ _Miles from home…_ ”

“ _In the swirling swimming on…_ ”

“ _When I’m rolling with the thunder but bleed from thorns…_ ”

“ _Leave a light… a light on…_ ”

The luminous trolls sailed further into the horizon in the dark of the night, resuming their singing. A chorus of O’s filled the air, followed by chants of “ _Leave a light on…_ ”

When their song began to intensify, more trolls flickered in sync with its increasing electrified rhythm and melody. Their colorful, flickering forms shined as bright as the millions of stars above them. In the light show that could be seen from miles away, the fleet moved forward, straight ahead, with no turning back.

A lone luminous troll, with glowing green hair, pastel rainbow skin, and light armor, leaned against the nest and murmured the last lines to himself.

“ _Leave a light… a light on. Leave a light…_ a light…” his head perked up. He turned his pointy ear to a different sound that seemed to come from behind. His hair quickly stopped glowing when he turned to look, though his still-glowing eyes pierced an intense glare across the darkness.

A smaller ship with no luminous troll in sight sailed in a different direction, and its sailors were singing a different song. The luminous troll in the nest squinted in the dark, listening intently to the new music. Hearing a more fast-paced, poppier melody, the voices singing within the ship sounded… far, far happier. Far more like a party, at an ungodly hour and place. The troll almost gasped when he started to make out words.

“ _Out on the verge!_ ” the voices sang, “ _Out on the verge for the rest of our lives!_ ”

The troll quickly scrambled to grab hold of a spyglass. He peered into his instrument to get a closer view of the ship. As the makeshift melody intensified, his eyes grew wide.

“ _Out on the verge of the rest of our lives tonight,_  
_Top of the world and we're dressed to the nines tonight,_  
_Edge of the earth and we're touching the sky tonight,_ _  
_ Out on the verge of the rest of our lives!”

Four young trolls danced and sang lively. One blue troll danced close to the ship’s bowsprit. An orange troll was breakdancing on the deck, occasionally pulling on ropes to jump higher. A green lion troll banged makeshift drums with his front legs, swishing his finned tail and whistling parts of the song. The largest purple troll operated the ship’s wheel, bobbing his head to the beat.

While the trolls in the ship had a good time, the troll observing them groaned. Whether they were happy or not, they moved off-course.

The troll huffed and put down the spyglass. He climbed to the edge of the nest and leaped off, grabbing the ropes of the sails on his way down. A jade-green troll in similar armor stepped up from his post at the back of the deck to watch him come down. After landing, the luminous troll stood upright and dusted off his hands.

“Why’d you stop glowing, Lieutenant?” he asked the pastel troll.

“Didn’t want the drifters to find out I spotted them,” the troll replied, pointing to the renegade ship.

“What?!” the green troll rushed to the edge of the ship to see for himself. Across the horizon, he saw the ship sailing away. He brought his fist down. “ _Drifters!_ ” he exclaimed, “That’s just one step closer to _pirates_!” The green troll picked up his spear in anger. “I’d teach them a lesson!”

But the lieutenant put a hand on the green troll’s shoulder. “Mako,” he said, “let’s just talk to the queen about this.”

After a moment, Mako nodded, earning a pat on the shoulder. The lieutenant proceeded to march across the ship to head to the cabin, the other troll guard Mako following closely behind. Several sailor trolls working maintenance at the deck stared at the passing guards as they retreated to the lower portions of the ship, wondering what could’ve happened.

During the guard trolls’ short trip to the queen’s royal chamber, they passed by the berthing where the remaining troll crew lay down in hammocks, sleeping like babies. Their sharp-toothed mouths drooled as they snored, and their webbed fingers twitched. One sleeping troll reached up to scratch her nose with a clawed finger.

The two guard trolls reached the door to the queen’s room, and Mako knocked on it. Upon getting no answer, the two guard trolls gently opened the door. The queen’s room’s lamp was still lit while she sat on her bed, drawing sketches of undersea life on her book. She looked up to see the two trolls standing at her door taking a bow.

“We’re sorry to disturb you, your majesty.” The lieutenant rose up. “But I saw one of the ships sailing away off-course. The trolls even sang a different song.”

The queen took a glance at her book, before closing it and puting it aside. She climbed out of her bed and stood with a raised brow. “… Which way did they went?”

“East,” he replied.

The queen scratched her chin. With a hum, she moved across her room to a large map in the wall over her desk and squinted at it. She yawned unexpectedly and rubbed an eyelid, while the lieutenant moved next to her. The old map was marked with the route that the fleet was assigned to take; a regular, routine southward route across the lands in the ocean after visiting the chilly lands. Both the queen and the lieutenant studied the map, in particular the eastern route. The queen rose her webbed hand and traced with her clawed finger the direction of East. She passed by an assortment of islands that other ships took, figuring that there was something more important beyond.

Her nose scrunched up when, according to her finger, the drifting ship seemed to be nearing undocumented land. The queen’s eyes widened when her finger reached a curved mass of big land. The lieutenant leaned closer when she stared at the drawing, awe filling her mind when she recalled all the memories and stories she was told…

“My queen?” Mako asked.

She snapped out of her trance. The queen took a breath and formed a fist in her hand, then turned to the guards with a burrowed frow. “Order all ships to stop here for the night.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Mako promptly rushed out to give orders to the crew above the deck, leaving the lieutenant and the queen by themselves.

“Eric,” she began to ask, “whose ship was it?”

Eric cleared his throat. “Hm… I believe the ship was, uh, _The Ocean Cat_.” The queen’s eyes widened in curiosity.

“ _Fin’s_ ship?”

Eric nodded. “I’ve seen how he usually is.” He eyed the map once more, then smirked. “Doesn’t seem as bad as I thought it would be. When this ship reaches what it’s looking for, I think we'll know,” he reassured.

The queen smiled and chuckled to herself.

“Well then, Fin,” she whispered, “go find the bay.”


	2. The Ace

_ If I were a ship, _

_ I’d sail to your shore… _

* * *

Summertime officially started in Troll Village. The sun shined down on the unusually tranquil forest, with most of the wildlife and flora basking in its heat. Several flowers bloomed under its bright light, and a lizard creature climbed up a tree to sunbathe. Two squirrel-like creatures passed by the lizard while they skittered across the trees together. They chattered and ran faster from tree to tree, looking back at each other as if they were playing. They stopped at one high branch, nuzzling their their noses and twitching their tails.

The two squirrels heard an instrument playing from under the tree. They turned their heads down to hear the sound of a little flute playing a tranquil melody, all the way down to the forest floor. On the ground sat a lime-colored troll child, playing a flute instrument deep in concentration. The little troll’s hair was light blue, with a pair of tips on top and three strands of bangs. A patch of sunlight shined down on him while he played the instrument under his blue nose. He played his song, pacifying himself as well as the animals around him.

“Flute!”

His pointed ears perked up when he heard a little girl’s voice calling out his name. His wide, blue-green eyes scanned the forest area like a meerkat, and from one of the bushes, he spotted another light-blue troll with pink hair and butterfly wings in her dress calling out to him.

“C’mon, Flute! Our group just went back!”

Flute let out a voiceless gasp, and picked himself up from the ground. While running towards the other troll child, he kept the flute in his hands, and tooted a pair of notes in “response” to her. The other troll smiled and turned to head to the nearby Troll Village with him. Flute grinned at her, showing a sharp tooth from the left side of his face.

“Flute, does your sister know you were there?” the troll girl asked curiously, “‘Cuz when my sister catches me, she gets real upset. ‘Butterfly, what the heck are you doing!’ Only…” she leaned in to whisper to Flute’s ear and held up a hand, “she didn’t use ‘heck’.” 

The two children giggled heartily, though instead of a voice, soft airy huffs came out of Flute’s throat. He tooted a few more notes with his instrument.

“Oh, she’s out too?” Butterfly translated. “Cool! I like exploring.”

The children made their way out of the forest and stepped into the lively Troll Village, making their way to the school pod among troll kids doing the same. Surrounding them were other trolls excitedly setting up outdoor stages, decorating their pods with flowers and streamers, and carrying baskets full of fruits and candies. Several trolls stretched their vocal chords, and glitter trolls rehearsed some dances on top of colorful platforms. Other trolls began to set up stands for stuff to give out during the day, including pastries and sunglasses. The trolls’ fellow insects crawled through the branches and slides across the village, helping set up spotlights and more streamers.

Poppy observed the trolls in the village preparing for the Solstice greeting party from all the way to the daycare pod. She paced around and nodded approvingly at the effort the village put to make the party awesome for everyone. She put a hand on her chin, when Cooper showed up seemingly out of nowhere.

“Aw, this is lookin’ good!” he remarked.

“Sure does!” Poppy exclaimed, “Although… I think what’s missing now is the string lights… BUT we can take care of that later. I want this to be the wildest, brightest Solstice greeting yet! DJ’s got a new song and she’s getting Branch to sing it! Can you imagine, it’s his first Solstice in a long time!! ⎯Wait, where is he?”

“Oh, he had to see Doctor Cal!” Cooper replied casually. “Said it was something important about oral care not getting his mouth infected… or somethin’. But he’s gonna be there this time!”

Poppy smiled wistfully. “He will.” She took a moment to continue watching the trolls prepare for the party that night, instinctively scanning for Doctor Cal’s office. She soon turned back to Cooper. “What are you doing here, by the way? Aren’t you supposed to be on another last day field trip?” 

Cooper’s smile vanished. “Uhhhhh….”

On cue, Poppy heard a array of shouts from behind Cooper. Both of them looked in the noise’s direction, and saw a group of unruly troll teenagers and pre-teens running up and even stepping on top of each other. They giggled loudly and they mischievously pulled at each other’s hair.

“Oh,” Poppy uttered flatly.

“They didn’t wanna stay in the woods, right?” Cooper explained. “They got super bored an’ I didn’t know what to do… So I came to you!” he finished with a grin. But as Poppy stared in nervous bewilderment, Cooper laughed awkwardly as well.

“It’s Queen Poppy!” One of the pre-teens shouted. The rest of the kids suddenly piled up towards her. Poppy took a step back in surprise.

“Oh, uh,” Poppy cleared her throat, and put on a grin she's perfected for most of her life. “Hi, there…! What’re you kids all doing here?” Her cheery voice notably faltered as she searched for something to say, and she took a closer look at her apparent class. One of the teens curiously sniffed her armpit in disgust, while another picked on something that appeared to be a zit on his right cheek. 

Poppy, the Queen very used to receiving the attention of nearly everyone in her village, struggled to get back into “character.”

Soon, one of the pre-teens piped up. “My sis says that you tell stories.”

A lighting bug went off inside Poppy’s head, and she grinned more genuinely. “ _ Yes _ , I sure do!” She beamed. She quickly shot a thumbs up at Cooper and mouthed ‘I got this!’ Cooper sighed in relief.

“Good luck, Queen!” Cooper trotted off while whooping.

“See you later!” Poppy called out. She turned her attention back to the kids. “So I hear you guys want a story? Well let's all sit down in a neat and orderly circle so we can…” The kids simply plopped down on the ground, groaning in exhaustion. Poppy blinked. “O-kay, we’re all seated. Now listen, and I… will tell you a story.” Poppy knelt down on the ground and took a breath. After a moment, Poppy began to narrate with confidence.

“ _ Once upon a time _ …”

“Wait a second, Queen.”

Poppy was befuddled at the sudden interruption, and looked to one of the pre-teen girls raising a hand slightly.

“Pardon?” Poppy asked.

“Are you gonna… start it like that?” The girl asked, with a hint of complaint in her voice.

“Yeah, who says ‘once upon a time’ these days?” A boy remarked mockingly.

Poppy felt a pinprick sting, not of hurt, but of genuine confusion. “What…? What story  _ doesn’t _ start with ‘once upon a time’?” 

“The ones other trolls tell us,” another boy answered. “They tell us what's going on from the first few words.”

“Yeah, it’s really clever, and the story sounds cooler,” a different girl commented.

“Uh…” Poppy brought her hands together. “Okay, I’m… not gonna use that.” She cleared her throat once again.

“ _ There was a butterfly floating in the woods. The butterfly loved to dance around in the sky, above the trees, above the ground. The butterfly greeted her friends, the shining firefly, the lovely ladybug, and the lazy snail. Together, the butterfly, the firefly, the ladybug, and the snail went to the pond and watch the fish jump up. The fish jumped high in the air splashing water everywhere… _ ”

Poppy darted her eyes at the other kids, and her smile vanished. Several of the kids were looking away, yawning, and rolling their eyes. One was still trying to squeeze out a pimple, while a girl paid more attention to stroking her hair.

“Um, is there something wrong…?” Poppy tried not to sound disappointed.

“Does this story get to the cool parts?” asked one boy.

“Yeah, does something… interesting happen?” a younger girl asked.

“Is one of the fish gonna try to eat the bugs?” A older boy laughed.

“Oh, sorry guys, I heard this story before,” a teen girl clarified. “Nothing happens. The bugs just watch the fish jump and do tricks and that’s it.”

A choir of annoyed voices filled the space, and Poppy’s eye nearly twitched. She quickly decided to fake annoyance herself, if only to mask her real growing frustration. 

“Aw, darn it!” she said playfully. “Now you gave away the ending! Shame on you for spoiling it to everyone! Oh well,” Poppy attempted to scoot back over to the daycare pod, “I’ll just see if I have um, better, stories for you guys!” Her teeth briefly gritted nervously at the word ‘better’. She darted over to the daycare pod’s door, but as she opened the door, Poppy turned around. “Just in case,” she asked with a excited, if forced grin, “… What kind of stories do you guys like…?”

The class of teenagers and kids piped up.

“We like stories with DRAMA!” One kid beamed.

“ACTION!” Another one.

“CONFLICT!”

“FIGHTING!”

“DANGER!”

“Death.” Somehow, Keith snuck himself among the group.

Poppy stared at them with her eyes as wide as platters. She slowly began to make her way inside the pod, without taking off eye contact. “O-ooookay…! Let’s see if I can’t find a story that’s cool for you guys!” She gave the kids a pistol and a wink, and closed the door.

Poppy sprinted inside in a panic and dug through every book the the daycare had. “A story, a story with conflict, danger, death, where are they?” Poppy pulled out fluffy children’s book after fluffy children's book, tossing each one away in frustration. She darted her eyes around and mumbled to herself while twiddled her fingers. “C’mon. Stories, stories, storieeeess… who else has this sort of informatioooonnn…”

Poppy let out a happy gasp and threw her fist in her palm.

At the dentist’s pod, Branch lay down casually in a chair. He had an annoyed, almost bored look on his face while his open mouth was being prodded with a couple of sharp instruments by a warm yellow troll in a rosy lab coat standing next to him. After a few moments, the middle-aged troll pulled the instruments away, and removed her surgical mask. 

“And we’re all done, Branch!” she beamed down at him while she adjusted his chair. “You’ve been doing a great job at keeping your mouth nice and healthy these past several months. I know how seriously you take this, and I’m so proud of you!” Cal pulled out a little bag from her greying, two-tipped green hair, and handed it to Branch.

Branch barely reacted to her tone, simply taking the bag and replying, “Thanks, Doctor Cal.” He jumped down from the chair to walk away. He reached into the bag to pull out a lollipop, then placed it in his mouth.

“Don’t let me see you again here too soon!” Cal jokingly warned. Heading for the door, Branch cast her a glance with the lollipop still hanging on his mouth. 

But as soon as he turned back to the door, Poppy abruptly burst it open. “BRANCH!” 

Branch jumped up with a yelp and threw the lollipop upwards. “AAAGH, Poppy! What?! Did someone get poisoned?!” He darted his eyes out frantically, while Poppy covered her mouth to stifle her giggles on seeing the lollipop now stuck to his hair.

Poppy shook her head. “No, no, it’s ok, no one’s poisoned,” she explained awkwardly. “… But I’m having a itty, bitty, tiny bit dilemma.”

Branch sighed. “Okay, how much of a disaster we’re talking about here?”

“Disaster?!” Poppy exclaimed.

“Well, when you say you’ve got a ‘itty, bitty, tiny bit dilemma’, it usually means it’s a huge problem.” Branch crossed his arms.

Poppy blinked. “No, I- no, I’m serious. It’s just a little issue. I gotta keep some older kids busy, but I don’t have any stories they like! I teach little kids, and these older ones are… not my thing! So…”

Branch’s brows furrowed in confusion.

“I was wondering if they’d like any of YOUR stories?” Poppy blurted.

Branched looked at her in disbelief. “MY ‘stories’?” he peered outside behind Poppy. “What kind of stuff do THEY want?”

Poppy trailed uncomfortably, “they said that they wanted stories with drama, fighting and death…? I figured you’d be more of an… expert in that sort of thing,” Poppy stepped next to Branch at the group of kids waiting outside. 

Branch shrugged his shoulders in feigned innocence. “Well… I got stories like that,” Branch stated, then lifted up a finger, “but they’re not gonna like them either. At least not their parents.”

Poppy looked at him, “Huh? Why wouldn’t they?”

Branch gestured with his hands, “Weeeell, they’re not exactly appropriate…” Branch rolled his eyes. “Unless you want me to tell them about the Limbless Troll, the Troll-eating Dirtworm, the Trolls and the Butcherbird…”

Poppy shuddered in horrified disgust. “Oooh boy.”

“The what bird?” one kid piped up.

“Nothing!” Both Poppy and Branch exclaimed.

Poppy sighed in exasperation. “So… neither of our stories work. Mine are too sweet, and yours are too… scary.” Branch hummed in agreement. “So where do we get stories THEY want without their parents getting upset?”

Branch put his fist to his chin. “If only there was a *kind* of story that isn’t too gruesome, or too… ‘happy-party-sweetness’ that we see everyday anyway.” Branch stared into space. “Geez, it’s no wonder they’re bored.” 

“Excuse me?” Cal’s voice called out from inside, and stepped towards Branch and Poppy. “You happen to be looking for a more exciting story to tell these kids… that’s also parental-approved?” Cal winked.

Poppy’s face lit up joyfully. “YES!!! Doctor Cal, do YOU know any stories?”

Cal smiled. “Well… I happen to know someone. A troll with very interesting stories about his life…”

Surprisingly, Branch also lit up. “You mean…?” 

Cal nodded, and mimed a motion with her arms as if she were shooting an arrow from a bow. Branch gasped in amazement.

* * *

 

Within moments, the entire group of trolls followed closely behind the dentist troll. Cal led Poppy, Branch, and the rest of the class to a slightly hidden area of the village, surrounded by shade, vegetation, and several tiny snails. The area somehow was more humid as if it were a small rainforest, inciting curious stares from the younger trolls. Cal stopped in front of a mossy rock, whose clear pathway led to a house pod that sat on top, surrounded by decorated vases.

Cal turned to the group of trolls. “Let me get him for you.” Cal quickly stepped into the rocky pathway and stood in front of the door.

“… Apollo?” she called out gently, “Would you mind coming outside? I think Queen Poppy needs your help with something?” 

Branch let out a miniscule squeak at the mention of the troll’s name.

A voice called out from behind the door. “Oh! I’ll- I’m coming!”

Branch abruptly put his hands on Poppy’s shoulders and put on a serious face. “Poppy, it’s The ACE!” he exclaimed. “The bravest troll in the village! He used to protect us by Peppy’s side! He’s very strong! This is a huge deal!”

“Oooh, I know, right?” Poppy said encouragingly. “He still helps us, and they’re gonna love meeting him!”

The doorknob to the pod started to move. The teenaged trolls plus Branch leaned closer towards the pod, staring attentively. The door slowly crept open, and it seemed as though the pod was glowing bright white and a soft chorus was ringing from inside. At the door frame stood the silhouette of a troll standing tall and brave. The group of trolls stared in awe.

Then the troll appeared to wobble out of balance.

“Oops…” he leaned back inside the pod. “I… almost forgot my cane. One second.” As he stumbled back inside the house, the teenage trolls’ looks of awe became looks of confusion and disappointment. Branch put his hands on his cheeks to hide his dopey smirk.

The stumbling blue troll re-emerged from the door, this time walking out with a cane in his hand. He scratched his wavy, graying locks of light blue and purple behind his pointy ears. Cal happily walked by his side as he slowly approached the group. One of the smaller trolls looked back at Poppy, and pointed towards the troll in disbelief.

“THAT’S the hero troll? He’s in a cane!”

“Shh! Don’t be rude!” Poppy gently reprimanded the troll. She could see Branch wince violently, even with his back turned.

The blue troll stopped curiously, and smiled at the small troll. “Well…” he massaged his chin, “sorry I seemed to have… disappointed you. Didn’t always look like this. My peak was a little before your time.” He dusted off his shiny brown chestplate and walked around the group. “Hello, Branch. Queen Poppy.”

Branch immediately cleared his throat and arched his back. “Greetings! Apollo, The Ace!” he shouted mechanically, in an attempt to hide his enthusiasm. “You’re looking good today, sir! Your house and your vases are still looking absolutely incredible!”

Poppy shot Branch a brief confused glance, before taking a breath and addressing the older troll. “Hi, Apollo. So… we’d kinda like to ask a favor from you, if you don’t mind. But I think it would use your help. There’s some trolls here that wanna hear a story from you, and we think you could make them happy.”

Apollo listened to Poppy’s suggestion, and thought for a moment. “I suppose,” he mused, “no matter which condition, which age in time, it seems I will always help other trolls, and serve the royals.”

Branch resisted to jump in excitement.

Apollo moved over back to the bored eyes of the teenaged trolls. “And I heard you kids would like to hear a story of my um, exploits? Like I said, it’s before your time, and I was much younger and stronger back then,” he playfully emphasized. Apollo grinned at the other trolls, showing off the sharp teeth that lined the sides of his jaws. Once all eyes were on him, he proceeded to use his cane to move faster towards the vases alongside Cal, and began to gesticulate.

“It all started far back, when the bergens still raised us for slaughter.” Apollo looked at the small claws on his fingers, and gripped his fist dramatically. “I was taken to the Troll Tree in a time of personal tragedy, lost and alone in the wild full of bergens.” Cal, meanwhile, started to gently sing a distinctive chant.

“ _ Hey-hey-o, hey-o, hey-hey-o, hey-o, hey-hey-o, hey-o, hey-hey-o, hey-o… _ ”

Apollo then began to sing,

“ _ I was left to my own devices, _

_Many days fell away, with nothing to show—_ ” Apollo went to a vase.

“ _ And the walls kept tumbling down, in the city that we love, _

_ Great clouds all over the hills bringing darkness from above, _ ”

With a beat of drums, the vase’s decorations appeared to come to life and form the shape of a two-dimensional, younger Apollo with greater physical prowess.

“ _ But if you close your eyes _ —”

During the song’s chorus, the Apollo figure ran quickly across the patterns of the vase and produced a bow and arrow. He found himself surrounded by all kinds of predators snarling at him, several other trolls cowering in fear. Apollo stepped up and intimidated the predators with his weapon, pulling the scared trolls behind him protectively.

“ _ How am I gonna be an optimist about this? _ ”

Apollo skipped a verse and decided to speak, “I wouldn’t let these creatures take a bite of me, and tried to protect as many others as I could from their hunger. And when we ran for a new home, I was there to defend. I was there in the name of the king. And Cal never left my side.” 

When he resumed singing, Cal joined along.

“ _ And the walls kept tumbling down, in the city that  _ **_we love_ ** _ , _ ”

A figure of hers seemed to appear on the vases, holding Apollo’s hand and running alongside him.

_ “Great clouds all over the hills bringing darkness from above, _ ”

“ _ But if you close your eyes _ ,

_ Does it almost feel like nothing changed at all, _

_ And if you close your eyes, _

_ Does it almost feel like you’ve been here before? _ ”

Apollo made grand gestures, miming the figures that ran through the patterns of the vases. A sad-looking troll child figure in one of the vases looked up and saw a bird. The boy desperately ran in fear of the predator that closed in on him. 

“ _ Oh where do we begin, _

_ The rubble of our sins? _ ”

The Apollo figure soon appeared and stepped next to the child. He drew his bow and shot the bird down, saving the boy’s life. The sad little boy managed to crack a smile, and watched Apollo go on his way. 

“ _ And the walls kept tumbling down, in the city that we love, _ ”

_ Great clouds all over the hills bringing darkness from above, _ ”

When the figure reached a high point in a rock, he watched troll village triumphantly. Both Apollo and Cal moved away from the vases and towards the awestruck crowd of teen trolls as the song drew to a close. Branch and Poppy watched on in impressed satisfaction. With assistance of his cane, Apollo took a bow.

The class of trolls cheered and whooped. They all stared at Apollo with the same wonder and excitement that Branch had shown before. Even the kid that tried to pop a zit took the time to applaud. Poppy walked up to the troll in respect, while Branch took the time to explain a few more details to the curious group of teens on Apollo’s behalf.

“ _ Thank _ you!” Poppy sincerely said, but it sounded more exasperated than intended. “We really appreciate your help.”

“Anything for the kingdom,” Apollo remarked proudly. His fingers twiddled on his cane.

Then, one of the teen trolls —the same girl that complained about his cane— eventually pointed to it. “What happened to his leg, then?” she asked Branch.

His smile faded, and looked forlorn. “Well…” he began to explain quietly, “what happened was that… he was helping a troll by a river. He got the troll to a bank, but the current swept him… and his knee got crushed between two rocks.” Branch turned to Apollo’s direction with a melancholy mood. “He never walked the same since. He couldn’t do all the… ‘heroic’ stuff he used to do anymore.” 

The troll girl mouthed an ‘oh’ in understanding, looking back at the middle-aged troll.

“But hey,” Branch continued, “he seems pretty happy. He’s raised a family now, he’s surrounded by loved ones… he’s pretty fine.” He topped it off with a smile as Poppy walked back up to the teen trolls, leaving Cal and Apollo to themselves on the rock.

“I hope you guys enjoyed the Ace’s story!” Poppy announced happily, now back on her footing. “Now, we’re all about to get the Solstice greeting party started, so who wants to be the first ones on the  _ wild _ dance floor?”

The young trolls cheered.

“Then let’s go! We have no time to lose!” Poppy quickly signaled to the direction of troll village with the young group of trolls tailing her. “C’mon, Branch!”

“Right behind ya.” Branch ran off behind the group, looking over his shoulder at the rocky, mossy home before sprinting. 

The middle aged couple silently stared at all the young trolls speeding off for the start of the party, until their voices blurred out from the woods. Apollo couldn’t resist a hearty chuckle.

“So, are we going too?” asked Cal.

“I think we can afford to be fashionably late,” said Apollo with a smirk. Taking a moment to think, his smile faltered. “Isn’t Flute going by himself…?”

“His friend is with him,” she assured him. Apollo nodded, then leaned against his cane and took a deep breath. Cal leaned closer to him and placed both hands on his shoulder affectionately.

“Calliope…” Apollo whispered. “What about… you know?”

Cal, or rather Calliope, began to ponder in slight concern, while rubbing her hands against his shoulder. Her eyes darted around the humid woods around her, with the sun rays shining through the leaves. She painted a vivid picture in her mind, of a tiny figure swinging through those branches while curiously staring at the rays… 

“She’ll be okay too,” she gently assured. “We both know how she is, but she’ll be back by… midnight I’d wager.”

“She’s been gone all day,” Apollo pointed out.

“At the very least, I don’t see reason she wouldn’t attend the party,” Calliope wondered.

Apollo hummed. “No offense to you dear, but I’m somehow not convinced,” he replied almost slyly.

Calliope couldn’t help but giggle, and kissed his cheek. “Well, if she gets lost, we’ll look for her. Not like we never found her.” Cal began to pull Apollo further out of the pod. Now come on and let’s help start the party. I think those trolls are gonna want to see your moves,” she teased.

Apollo grinned dorkily, even with his sharp teeth. “Huh, I’ll bet!”

Apollo and Calliope walked out of their pod and headed back to the center of troll village to meet with Flute. Back at the front of the pod, one of the jars at the front of the pod featured four trolls looking up at the stars in the sky over the trees.

The medium-sized troll among them had a small spiral-shaped curl on top of her hair.

* * *

 

_ Music is love, _

_ in search of the words. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs featured:
> 
> Pompeii by Bastille  
> If I Were A Ship by Hey Ocean!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed that introduction to my new Trolls story. It's gonna be more OC-focused, but the main troll characters will play very important parts overall. As opposed to some Trols Epic-style fanfics' use of medieval themes, this story will focus on a few Classical (Greco-Roman) elements and lots of "Age Of Sail" epics... Oh and there's also more references to the modern age in my attempts to make this a bit close to canon. Stay tuned.
> 
> Songs used in this chapter:  
> Midnight- Coldplay  
> Verge- Owl City


End file.
